Crysanthemumxc3x97morifolium cultivar Yoalberta.
The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Chrysanthemum plant, botanically known as Chrysanthemumxc3x97morifolium, commercially known as a garden-type Chrysanthemum and hereinafter referred to by the name xe2x80x98Yoalbertaxe2x80x99.
The new cultivar is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Salinas, Calif. and Fort Myers, Fla. The objective of the breeding program is to create new garden-type Chrysanthemum cultivars having inflorescences with desirable inflorescence forms, attractive floret colors and good garden performance.
The new Chrysanthemum originated from a cross made in November, 1993, in Salinas, Calif., of the Chrysanthemum cultivar Sarah, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 7,586, as the female, or seed, parent with an unnamed Chrysanthemum proprietary seedling selection, not patented, as the male, or pollen, parent. The new Chrysanthemum was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a single flowering plant within the progeny of the stated cross grown in a controlled environment in Fort Myers, Fla. in October, 1998. The selection of this plant was based on its desirable inflorescence form, attractive ray floret color and good garden performance.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by terminal cuttings taken in a controlled environment in Fort Myers, Fla. since January, 1999, has shown that the unique features of this new Chrysanthemum are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.
The cultivar Yoalberta has not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary somewhat with variations in environment such as temperature, daylength and light intensity, without, however, any variance in genotype.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of xe2x80x98Yoalbertaxe2x80x99. These characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x98Yoalbertaxe2x80x99 as a new and distinct cultivar:
1. Upright and outwardly spreading plant habit.
2. Freely branching habit; dense and full plants.
3. Uniform and freely flowering habit.
4. Decorative-type inflorescences with quilled ray florets.
5. Dark orange-colored ray florets.
6. Natural season flowering in early October in the Northern Hemisphere.
Plants of the new Chrysanthemum are most similar to plants of the female parent, the cultivar Sarah. In side-by-side comparisons conducted in Fort Myers, Fla., plants of the new Chrysanthemum differed from plants of the cultivar Sarah in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Chrysanthemum were not as upright and had a more uniform plant habit than plants of the cultivar Sarah.
2. Plants of the new Chrysanthemum flowered more uniformly than plants of the cultivar Sarah.
3. Plants of the new Chrysanthemum had smaller inflorescences than plants of the cultivar Sarah.
4. Plants of the new Chrysanthemum flowered a few days earlier than plants of the cultivar Sarah.
5. Ray florets of the new Chrysanthemum and the cultivar Sarah differed in color as ray florets of the cultivar Sarah were yellow bronze.
In side-by-side comparisons conducted in Fort Myers, Fla., plants of the new Chrysanthemum differed from plants of the male parent, the unnamed selection, in the following characteristics:
1. Inflorescences of the new Chrysanthemum had quilled ray florets whereas inflorescences of the male parent did not have quilled ray florets.
2. Inflorescences of the new Chrysanthemum had few to no disc florets whereas inflorescences of the male parent had numerous disc florets.